What a fun weekend! Scott took Tziporah to Park City Friday night for a special date. Meanwhile, Ruby and I had a recital of our students, and there was some Nutcracker and ballet classes until late, and a wild and crazy school carnival. Saturday morning, Nutcracker pictures started at 7 am and continued, with each kid having a different time slot throughout the day, interspersed with ballet classes and whatnot. Frank was laughing at me as I walked in and out of the house, dropping off one kid and getting another one prepped for pics. With Ruby and Araceli at the studio, I had to do Xanthe's French twist all by myself. Wah! I'm so spoiled, having all these helpers. Speaking of which, with Scott gone, I had to scrap Araceli's youth symphony rehearsal. She would have been an hour late because of pictures, and I wouldn't have had time to get home in time to turn around and leave again for Freestone's rehearsal. So she was able to not worry about rushing through fun Nutcracker pictures. Bernstein and Brahms will have to wait until next week.
My class, the Chinese.
Cute little Page.
Scott and Tziporah had driven to Springville to visit a pumpkin patch. Tizzy was in heaven having her favorite parent all to herself! Scott and I were sending pictures back and forth of our respective activities and talking about what to do next. Our tentative plan was for me and Freestone to meet Scott and Tizzy back in PC after Freestone's Nutcracker practice in Salt Lake. Then Scott texted me, "Change of plans. Call me."
Little did I know, that was the understatement of the year. Scott told me, "I got a call from the stake president and he wants us to come in at 3:30." I held my phone away from my ear so I could glower at it and shouted, "WHAT?!?" Knowing we were getting a new bishopric the next day, we both knew what this meant. Scott drove home, and when I got home from Salt Lake, he was getting his white shirt and tie on. I dressed up and we went. The first thing President Mellor did was to invite me into his office. He said, "First off, we need your permission and blessing to extend this call to your husband." He explained that it would be difficult for me as well as Scott. I had no hesitation saying yes. I knew it was right. That didn't stop my internal voice from bawling, "How are we going to do this??"
They called Scott in, and then informed us that the rest of the bishopric was waiting for us in the next room. Surreal! We walked through the door, anxious to see who was in there! I was so happy when I saw Jerry and Sally Taylor. I love them. Bishop Wuthrich was just beaming, and Maria. It was a neat moment. I have never experienced anything like it. They said that we all might be asked to bear our testimonies or just speak for a few minutes in sacrament meeting the next day. I am a terrible public speaker, and I didn't want to babble if I had to say a few words, so I wrote something down. Here it is:
I was standing at a crosswalk Saturday and out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw a man lunge forward and snatch his little boy out of the path of an oncoming car. With one swift, decisive yank, he had pulled the boy to safety. Holding the boy close, he said, "Are you kidding me? I JUST told you not to do that!"
The little boy started sobbing, "Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" He was scared. The dad set him down and knelt by his side. He set the boy against a wall and put his hand on his back, heavily, firmly, patiently, holding him there and keeping him safe until the boy stopped crying, and until the dad recovered his breath.
Seeing this near-miss play out was jarring. It wasn't a big leap to make an analogy to myself, and maybe to all of us at some point in our lives. Our Father in Heaven is always standing right by us. Rescuing us, sometimes without our consent. Sometimes we don't necessarily want to be rescued. We - or at least I - want to say, "Leave me alone! I'm doing just fine. I don't want to improve." Because I'm scared.
And then our Father in Heaven puts His hand on us and holds us, waiting for us to see the wisdom in His plan. In fact, he has made us a promise that He will do just that. Isaiah 46:4 says,"I have made you; I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you."
Our Father in Heaven has seven billion individual rescue plans in play right now, all made possible by the atonement of Jesus Christ. One of those rescue plans is yours. One of them is mine. When President Mellor extended this call to Scott, he said of the calling, "The Lord knows everything about you and he still wants you."
That is true of each one of us. The Lord knows everything about us and he still wants us. That will always be true.
Sunday, we felt so weird getting ready for church. Scott's mom and dad and Nikki and Ryan were all there in sacrament meeting, so anyone who noticed would have guessed that Scott would be called, so I felt totally self-conscious. When they announced the new bishopric, the three men went up on the stand and were asked to speak briefly, along with the outgoing gentlemen, Brother Knight, Brother Conrad and Bishop Adams. Scott gave a great talk, like he always does. He is good at speaking and weaving a story. I ended up not having to speak, and I kinda wished I had had the opportunity, to thank the ward. I also wanted to hear from the other wives, but time was short.
Immediately after the meeting, we all went to the stake center. None of the three men were high priests yet; they were all elders, so they had to be ordained. It was really neat because all three of their fathers were there to do that for them. Bishop Wuthrich's dad is quite elderly and could barely stand to lay his hands on his son's head and ordain him. It was s tender moment. All three were also set apart for their callings. Bruce, Ryan and Josh were all in the circle of men. My heart was so full. I wish my dad could have been there, but he and my mom are in Paris.
I still haven't processed all the feelings. First, I am so proud of Scott. That seems like a given, but even that is conflicted because he didn't necessarily do anything to strive for this calling. Who would? In fact, I joked, "I though we had done everything we could to AVOID this!" Ha ha. So it's not that Scott "earned" this. But I'm proud of him for being such a good man, and someone who always rises to the occasion. Above all, we both know that Heavenly Father has been preparing our hearts for this for several weeks. Months, maybe. Perhaps since the moment Golda opened her mission call and we felt a whoosh of the spirit sweep through the room. We see His hand in the details of our lives, and we marvel at how everything fits together. That doesn't mean I feel adequate to shoulder the burden, even though I know Scott will do a wonderful job.
Sunday morning, I was showing Scott my calendar. In our shock, we were trying to figure out where this new responsibility would fit in. Playfully, I said, "Look. On November 1st, I teach all night and you have Ptolemy's basketball coach meeting, but Freestone has to be in Salt Lake for Nutcracker after his ballet class, and Ruby and Xanthe have dance too, so Ruby can't drive him. Araceli has Young Womens, so Tizzy will be home alone. And now there's Young Men's, which you're supposed to be at." I got to church and opened the program and there were our names an the church cleaning schedule. November 1st. Seriously, does God have a sense of humor?! Because that is funny. Each family only cleans the church once a year!
We were so excited to tell Golda about this! All three of the men have missionaries out. Isn't that cool? So Scott sent her a clever email that said, "The new bishop has a missionary out in New York. The first counselor has one out in Cincinnati. And the new second counselor has a missionary in Hong Kong."
Golda wrote back and was so, so happy. She said that she had thought about our new bishopric earlier that week, and had had the distinct impression that her dad would be part of it. Like I said in my notes for the talk, I am like the little boy who was mad at his dad for saving him. I told Scott, "I never asked for a new chapter." I was pretty comfortable without the growth, thank you. Scott, in his wisdom, had the perfect response: "It would be a boring book if there were no new chapters." So we're turning the page.
I peeked in at Freestone in class.
Scott and Tziporah had driven to Springville to visit a pumpkin patch. Tizzy was in heaven having her favorite parent all to herself! Scott and I were sending pictures back and forth of our respective activities and talking about what to do next. Our tentative plan was for me and Freestone to meet Scott and Tizzy back in PC after Freestone's Nutcracker practice in Salt Lake. Then Scott texted me, "Change of plans. Call me."
Little did I know, that was the understatement of the year. Scott told me, "I got a call from the stake president and he wants us to come in at 3:30." I held my phone away from my ear so I could glower at it and shouted, "WHAT?!?" Knowing we were getting a new bishopric the next day, we both knew what this meant. Scott drove home, and when I got home from Salt Lake, he was getting his white shirt and tie on. I dressed up and we went. The first thing President Mellor did was to invite me into his office. He said, "First off, we need your permission and blessing to extend this call to your husband." He explained that it would be difficult for me as well as Scott. I had no hesitation saying yes. I knew it was right. That didn't stop my internal voice from bawling, "How are we going to do this??"
They called Scott in, and then informed us that the rest of the bishopric was waiting for us in the next room. Surreal! We walked through the door, anxious to see who was in there! I was so happy when I saw Jerry and Sally Taylor. I love them. Bishop Wuthrich was just beaming, and Maria. It was a neat moment. I have never experienced anything like it. They said that we all might be asked to bear our testimonies or just speak for a few minutes in sacrament meeting the next day. I am a terrible public speaker, and I didn't want to babble if I had to say a few words, so I wrote something down. Here it is:
I was standing at a crosswalk Saturday and out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw a man lunge forward and snatch his little boy out of the path of an oncoming car. With one swift, decisive yank, he had pulled the boy to safety. Holding the boy close, he said, "Are you kidding me? I JUST told you not to do that!"
The little boy started sobbing, "Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" He was scared. The dad set him down and knelt by his side. He set the boy against a wall and put his hand on his back, heavily, firmly, patiently, holding him there and keeping him safe until the boy stopped crying, and until the dad recovered his breath.
Seeing this near-miss play out was jarring. It wasn't a big leap to make an analogy to myself, and maybe to all of us at some point in our lives. Our Father in Heaven is always standing right by us. Rescuing us, sometimes without our consent. Sometimes we don't necessarily want to be rescued. We - or at least I - want to say, "Leave me alone! I'm doing just fine. I don't want to improve." Because I'm scared.
And then our Father in Heaven puts His hand on us and holds us, waiting for us to see the wisdom in His plan. In fact, he has made us a promise that He will do just that. Isaiah 46:4 says,"I have made you; I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you."
Our Father in Heaven has seven billion individual rescue plans in play right now, all made possible by the atonement of Jesus Christ. One of those rescue plans is yours. One of them is mine. When President Mellor extended this call to Scott, he said of the calling, "The Lord knows everything about you and he still wants you."
That is true of each one of us. The Lord knows everything about us and he still wants us. That will always be true.
Sunday, we felt so weird getting ready for church. Scott's mom and dad and Nikki and Ryan were all there in sacrament meeting, so anyone who noticed would have guessed that Scott would be called, so I felt totally self-conscious. When they announced the new bishopric, the three men went up on the stand and were asked to speak briefly, along with the outgoing gentlemen, Brother Knight, Brother Conrad and Bishop Adams. Scott gave a great talk, like he always does. He is good at speaking and weaving a story. I ended up not having to speak, and I kinda wished I had had the opportunity, to thank the ward. I also wanted to hear from the other wives, but time was short.
Immediately after the meeting, we all went to the stake center. None of the three men were high priests yet; they were all elders, so they had to be ordained. It was really neat because all three of their fathers were there to do that for them. Bishop Wuthrich's dad is quite elderly and could barely stand to lay his hands on his son's head and ordain him. It was s tender moment. All three were also set apart for their callings. Bruce, Ryan and Josh were all in the circle of men. My heart was so full. I wish my dad could have been there, but he and my mom are in Paris.
I still haven't processed all the feelings. First, I am so proud of Scott. That seems like a given, but even that is conflicted because he didn't necessarily do anything to strive for this calling. Who would? In fact, I joked, "I though we had done everything we could to AVOID this!" Ha ha. So it's not that Scott "earned" this. But I'm proud of him for being such a good man, and someone who always rises to the occasion. Above all, we both know that Heavenly Father has been preparing our hearts for this for several weeks. Months, maybe. Perhaps since the moment Golda opened her mission call and we felt a whoosh of the spirit sweep through the room. We see His hand in the details of our lives, and we marvel at how everything fits together. That doesn't mean I feel adequate to shoulder the burden, even though I know Scott will do a wonderful job.
Sunday morning, I was showing Scott my calendar. In our shock, we were trying to figure out where this new responsibility would fit in. Playfully, I said, "Look. On November 1st, I teach all night and you have Ptolemy's basketball coach meeting, but Freestone has to be in Salt Lake for Nutcracker after his ballet class, and Ruby and Xanthe have dance too, so Ruby can't drive him. Araceli has Young Womens, so Tizzy will be home alone. And now there's Young Men's, which you're supposed to be at." I got to church and opened the program and there were our names an the church cleaning schedule. November 1st. Seriously, does God have a sense of humor?! Because that is funny. Each family only cleans the church once a year!
We were so excited to tell Golda about this! All three of the men have missionaries out. Isn't that cool? So Scott sent her a clever email that said, "The new bishop has a missionary out in New York. The first counselor has one out in Cincinnati. And the new second counselor has a missionary in Hong Kong."
Golda wrote back and was so, so happy. She said that she had thought about our new bishopric earlier that week, and had had the distinct impression that her dad would be part of it. Like I said in my notes for the talk, I am like the little boy who was mad at his dad for saving him. I told Scott, "I never asked for a new chapter." I was pretty comfortable without the growth, thank you. Scott, in his wisdom, had the perfect response: "It would be a boring book if there were no new chapters." So we're turning the page.
3 comments:
Beautiful thoughts. I think you nailed the analogy. Growth is sometimes painful, or inconvenient, or just plain hard. You guys will write a beautiful new chapter together. xoxo
Oh, I so feel you. Neil and I had been in our new house two months when he was put into the bishopric. We knew 5% of the ward. We didn't even recognize the bishop's name. We hadn't even finished unpacking our boxes. In the time that he served, he put in a yard, finished a basement, got our first daughter off to college, then planned a wedding for that child, and traveled to China three times a year with work. On top of that, I was asked to serve in the young womens. I don't know how we survived it. The Lord truly enlarges the capacities of those He asks to serve. The enabling power of the Atonement is real, and you will feel that. The Lord asks us to sacrifice for a season so that He can bless us. I hope you begin to feel those blessings immediately. Every stake president Neil has ever served under has reminded him that his wife always holds the trump card. Don't be afraid to pull out that card when you really need him there. This will be a wonderful chapter to add to your lives!
I suspect you don't give yourself enough credit on the public speaking front. The thoughts you composed are profound, and I thank you for sharing them. I look forward to the continued service from the two of you. Our ward is blessed! I don't understand all, and in fact, the more I learn the more I see there is more to learn -- but this I know: Heavenly Father strengthens us to carry out callings. I hope your family will be able to feel that. Now, about Nov. 1. The Hatch clan can help clean. ;)
Happy birthday!
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